On Unfamiliar Peds
by Xentel
Summary: Desperate and starved, Starscream unknowingly ingested an old energon sample containing an experimental mutagenic virus. Now he must cope with his new bestial form, as well as survive whatever trial the earth presents him. A collection of Oneshots exploring the concept. 7/21- Cancelled for Revision


The mine was decently sized, energon deposits high on the walls where scaffolding had not been built, worker drones chipping away at the crystals while their guards patrolled the area. Many boulders were strewn about, broken away from the walls in huge chunks, providing decent cover. Starscream leapt behind one such boulder, crouching as he peeked out from behind, making note of every vehicon he saw, formulating a plan.

The mine was loud, the whirring of blades cutting through crystal, the whirring grinding of the drills drowning out the finer sounds within the mine. The sounds of quiet pedfalls were easily masked, making it easier for starscream to sneak about the mine. The heavy weight that fell upon his tail reminded him of the fact that things could sneak up on him as well.

The yelp that tore from his voicebox was joined by a sharp beep, the weight quickly lifting from his rather fragile new limb. Starscream quickly pulled it away, jumping around to snarl at his attacker, trying to hide the pain with bravado. The autobot recoiled, optics cycling as they shifted their attention to the area beyond the boulder.

Starscream was only barely able to detect the sound of rushed, heavy pedfalls, and he snarled as he shifted his body and focus. He leapt onto and over the boulder, turning to target one of the vehicons before he pounced. Knowing that he had little time, he swiped at the throat of the vehicon with one of his clawed peds, pushing them down into the ground with the other, jumping off within a nano-klik. The vehicons behind him had already taken aim and fired, finishing off their wounded and dazed companion.

Veering to the left, he circled around the pair before helmbutting one of them and tackling the other, jaws locking around their head as he crushed it between his sharp denta, jerking his head to the side as he tore it off. The second vehicon had only been stunned, and fired several shots into Starscream's side, forcing him to flee over the boulder as several more joined the firefight, yowling as his tail was hit.

Starscream skid over the edge and crashed helmfirst into the floor, absentmindedly trying to decide which pain had been worse. He scrambled upright after a nano-klik or two, but the other vehicon had already made its way around the boulder. Turning to flee only left him scrambling back as four more rushed him from that side, all aiming with charged blasters. Slag, this had been a bad idea…

A fisted servo slammed into one of the vehicons, a plasma shot fired at the helm of another, blowing it clean off. The third attempted to line up a shot, but was knocked down by Starscream, who whipped around to finish the last. Four more shots and a swift decapitation finished off the set of vehicons. Starscream noticed that other, more distant plasma shots were firing, and the yellow autobot gave the beast a quick glance before running to join the fray. After taking a moment to tend to his tail, the plates crushed in one area, a patch of then blown off in another, Starscream stalked out from behind the boulders, avoiding most of the fighting.

The autobots were busy with some more vehicons, targeting those that fought rather than fled. This was likely to speed up their raid, and enable them to secure the energon faster. If Starscream did not claim any for his own, there was no guarantee that the autobots would be willing to share. The storage area was not far from his hiding spot, and the autobots were too busy with their attack to stop the bounding beast. Two vehicons were with the stores, and Starscream didn't give them the chance to show if they were guards or simply hiding.

The harvest was moderately sized, stacks not towering above him but plentiful regardless. It would have be easy to isolate a few to carry to the harbinger, but his only 'servo' was not in the condition to hold weight at this time. He lifted his tail, but the dull throbbing turned into a continuous pang when he opened his talons to test his grip. Carrying was out of the question.

Starscream stalked over to a stack of 5, the shortest and stack available. He only required one, but he needed to stockpile some for emergencies. The beast was sure his bent tail counted as an emergency, one that required plenty of energon and berthrest. Sure, it would probably heal in a few solar cycles, but he felt like spoiling himself. He had no master; Starscream could do whatever he pleased.

Pushing a ped between stacks, he attempted to wedge it away from the others, noticing that the energon cubes were significantly heavier that he remembered. Rearing up on his back peds, he tried to gently push the top two cubes off, as less weight made for easier work. However, even as he splayed his back peds, his balance was quickly lost, and the other cubes clattered down along with him as he fell forwards.

Starscream held back a snarl. It would do him no good to grow frustrated yet. There were still a few stacks left; he would just have to be more careful. As he went back to nudging another short stack - 5 was seemingly the standard - he heard the pedfalls approaching the storage. He raised some of his spines, reading the air. They would not fire here, the explosion would kill them all, but physical assault was still an option. Starscream had slowed down his pawing as he inched the stack out, monitoring the air pressure for any sudden changes, any attempts at a silent approach.

The two autobots that first entered the room were the scout and the femme, the latter of which quickly backpedaled after catching sight of starscream. The pair quickly began a whispered conversation, and Starscream could hear the short scrape of metal as Arcee unsheathed her blades. He tensed at this; perhaps he should have opted to take one and flee rather than let his greed slow him down. There was a chance now that he wouldn't get any energon, and would cost him a few days without use of the Harbinger's computers. The cubes were much too large to carry in his denta, making fleeing with just one an impossibility.

Starscream continued to paw at the stack. Necessity trumped fear for now. He would flee only if forced to, not prematurely. Waiting around for solar cycles while his tail healed was only bearable with access to information on current events. Starscream did not survive by being uninformed. With renewed vigor, he put more effort into dragging the stack out, cursing his lack of servos. The sound of pedfalls made him stop, and he raised his helm to stare at the approaching autobot. He could hear and feel the weight of their steps, and it was soon joined by heavier pedfalls, making Starscrem's spines stand straight up.

The first was the yellow scout, as Arcee had not moved. The second set were significantly heavier, and with Starsceam's bad luck it was probably the wrecker. The scout slowly came around the harvest, the large green mech following soon after. The way things were going, it was likely that he would be away from the Harbinger for a while. Fleeing was becoming more appealing by the nano-click. Falling cubes would provide a decent enough distraction.

They stared each other down for almost a klik, the scout's optics cycling as if they were thinking. The green brute came to a decision rather quickly, stomping towards Starscream, ignoring the scout's request to wait. Starscream stood his ground, planning his method of escape. The scout began to voice their uncertainty, insisting to ask for the judgement of their Prime.

"We don't know what it is. We can't trust it." The wrecker's focus was on the beast before him. The scout replied swiftly, and Starscream could discern a mention of an attack - no, lack of one - and additional - subsequent - aid in battle.

The mech was silent, considering. Starscream felt the wrecker's joints lock before they struck, allowing him to jump out of the way. He snarled, leaping atop the energon when the mech lunged for him again, kicking a cube into their face. Fragging brute -

The main tower that Starscream was using for support was kicked down and his frantic attempts to find another tower made the rest unstable. Quickly jumping forwards with the little purchase he had, he managed to avoid most of the crashing energon as he dashed for the exit. The dent in his tail he could manage, but not a dent in his side. Or helm, as the wrecker was aiming for.

The Prime was making his way into the storage, sword drawn. Starscream bristled, forced to halt, spines lowering. Getting one sliced was not an appealing idea. On the topic of ideas, staying had been such a fragging stupid one…

The wrecker and scout were behind him, Arcee most likely sitting this one out, or waiting with blasters ready by the entryway. Slag, he should have left earlier.

Optimus watched Starscream for a few nano-kliks, studying the beast as best as they could in the dim lighting. To Starscream's surprise, the Prime backed off, disappearing around the wall of the entryway. It took him a moment to process this, before he took off, nearly tripping over his own servos, running straight for cover. He fled like this, hiding behind boulders, only stopping to glance at the autobots once.

As he had assumed, Arcee had not been in the storage area. And the prime continued to watch him, sword withdrawn. Starscream stared only for a klik, climbing up to the mine's entrance, cursing himself and his poor luck. Perhaps next time, but for now he had his tail to tend to, the impact of his sprint sending a jolt of pain each time his peds hit the ground. Every step a reminder of his poor judgement.

Perhaps Primus did hate him after all.


End file.
